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They are having a great time. The Doc and her fam had just had an amazing day on this planet with fuzzy creatures that looked like fluffy balls. Ryan and Yaz are laughing so hard they can barely breathe, and Graham is watching them with fondness. The Doctor is grinning proudly, yet there's still sadness in her eyes. There always is these days. They are a bit worried about her. Graham quite more than the other two. That's what comes with the age and experience, he guesses. Worrying.
Then, suddenly, the TARDIS door burst open with a loud bang and shut down just as quickly. A woman in a too revealing, tight and well-fitting red dress swirls inside like a bloody volcano. Her hair is an explosive mass of curls. If Graham had time to think about it, he'd probably find her quite pretty. However, he doesn't have time since the woman throws herself onto him and starts kissing him deeply and passionately.
Even with his unlucky experience with one Jack Hartness, Graham is so confused he freezes, and it takes him a few seconds to push the woman off of him. Gosh. Are all Doc's friends like this?
"You're probably looking for someone else. And I really do want the 'NOT THE DOCTOR' T-shirt for Christmas."
He might be wrong. This person might be someone new. She might even be dangerous. Judging the way she's grinning at him right now, almost sheepishly, he's right. What a mess. The Doc really has strange people in her life, doesn't she? He turns around to point at her, and it's only then that he catches the look in those hazel eyes. The blond looks a good part devasted as well as hopeful. Her eyes are shining with such happiness, and it's been a good while since she looked truly happy in that melancholic phase of hers. There's also grief and something... Something suggesting the Doctor can't quite believe she's seeing that woman. She must be someone she knows, then.
"Right. A bit of a misunderstanding there, sorry." She flicks her eyes to Yaz, then to Ryan. She raises an eyebrow but smiles with mischief anyway. "Ooh, you have gotten younger then, sweetie."
Ryan stutters something incoherent, and his cheeks get so dark he resembles a mix of ruby and dark chocolates.
"Erm... That's Ryan. Actually..."
River turns to the blonde, and her gaze gets somehow darker. Colder. She looks the other woman up and down and stops her midsentence, frowning.
"Well, he certainly did get a bunch of you this time around. So where is he then?"
The Doctor freezes, and her mouth opens and closes silently, making her resemble a fish. Graham is surprised to see the Doc so taken aback. She looks... Unusually vulnerable.
The woman huffs.
"Sorry, who are you looking for again?" Yaz challenges, looking at the curlyhead suspiciously.
"Oh, I'm sorry. How unpolite of me. You must be pretty new, and well, I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm professor River Song. I'm the Doctor's wife."
"A whaaa?" Ryan yelps, looking at her with wide eyes, clearly shocked. Yaz's face softens meanwhile. The Doctor is looking smaller and smaller with each second, though, and Graham is starting to realise why she might be this stricken. She said she lost her family, didn't she?
"He didn't mention me then? How typical. You see, I do love my husband, but he could tell his companions about me from time to time!"
"Ah, I think we should clear things up. I'm Graham. You know Ryan now, don't you? That's Yaz. And actually, that..."
"I'm Judy! Judy... Clayton. I'm nobody, really!"
Graham frowns, looking at the Doc worriedly. What's she doing?
"Oh, and where might my husband be, miss Nobody?"
She pronounces the words 'my husband' extremely carefully like she wants to emphasise something. Graham isn't sure what, though. The Doctor, however, looks as if she wilted with those words. She lowers her head, so her face is mostly hidden by the bob of her light hair, and she shrugs her shoulders. Then, mumbling something none of them quite understand, she turns around and rushes away, vanishing deep into the endless core of her ship.
"What's with her?" Yaz wonders aloud, her voice concerned. Graham briefly flicks his eyes to her, then looks back to the woman, whose name is River, apparently.
"I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding. You should go after her."
It takes River a few seconds to register that he's looking at her.
"What? Me? But I'm here for my husband. I get that she might be a bit overly emotional, but..."
She's interrupted by the TARDIS wheezing. It's an angry sound, and everyone except River is surprised. The professor just sighs.
"You too? Oh, come oon!" The TARDIS wheezes again, and River sighs. "Fine. Side up with them. Lead the way, mother dear. Won't do to make my hubby angry about his upset companion, of course."
Graham watches her vanish inside the hall. He's not sure what they just witnessed, but he's confident this will be a long day.
~~~
River finds the blond in the library. The lights are off, and she's sitting on the floor, her backside touching one of the bookshelves while the rest of her is curled around her knees. Even in the dark, River can see her body shaking as she cries silently, wrecked with sobs that don't actually come.
She quietly closes the door and sits down next to her, facing the painting on the wall opposite of them. Van Goth's best one, of course.
"I'm sorry if I was a bit harsh, honey." The other woman shakes her head and buries it wordlessly deeper into the fabric of her pants. "Oh, come on now. Don't cry. He doesn't like when people cry. Doesn't know what to do with them."
"M not cryin'," she replies stubbornly, but her voice trembles.
"Then why are your eyes red?"
"Can't see that in the dark."
She chuckles. She might learn to like this one after all.
"You're shining like a cherry, dear. And your body is shaking."
"Oh. I'm like that all the time. Allergic. To dust. Makes me shake a lot."
"Sure it does." She smiles softly, watching the blonde curling even more into herself. This is ridiculous. She's too old and has been with the Doctor too long to know how to be unkind. She can't do that, not anymore. "Is it the fact that I'm his wife that upset you, then?"
She doesn't get any response, and she sighs.
"I thought so."
"It's not that."
"What then?"
"Nothing."
"You're in love with him, aren't you?"
"What?" She shoots up at that, eyes full of tears and incredibly confused.
"Don't bother. It's alright. You're not the first and not the last. Maybe you should take a chance."
This silences the woman for a long few seconds. The tears finally stopped coming; however, there's something achingly devastated in her eyes still.
"You're suggesting... A stranger... To take a chance. On the... person you married..."
"Yes."
"Why would you do that? Don't you... Don't you love them at all?"
"Oh, don't be silly. I love them all too much, which is exactly why. Hang on. Them? You know about the regenerations, then? You must have seen more than one face. You're not new after all. He really likes you for sure."
"Couldn't be more wrong..."
"Oh, trust me. I do know my husband's type. If he kept you around for so long, he certainly likes you more than you'd believe."
Big, thick tears run down the woman's prominent cheeks. River knows she's no expert with emotions. Too complicated life for that. She's certain that she didn't say anything wrong, though.
"You really do believe that, don't you."
"Well, I've known my husband for a while and..."
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"How can you be so stupid to think that? I mean... You're brilliant and gorgeous and and... Why would a-... Why would he want anything else than you?"
"That's very sweet of you. But it's a bit complicated for us. You, on the other hand..."
"I'm not in love with the Doctor, jeez, how could I when..." The TARDIS disturbs her with another sound. It's a mixture of teasing and tiredness this time. The blond flashes her look up to the ceiling, growling. "Oi, shut it, you. I wasn't done talkin'!"
River watches her in amazement. No one treats the TARDIS that way. No one speaks to her like that. Just the two of them. Come to think of that, no one actually talks to the ship. At least none of the other companions ever have. She gets why she likes this one that much then. She seems almost protective of the blond.
Unless...
Too many companions. The blonde did try to say something, but River interrupted her, didn't she? And her introduction was weird and very... Rushed and suspicious.
No. It couldn't be...
"You've regenerated again, didn't you?" The woman freezes, and she casts her eyes down. She says nothing, which speaks as loud and clear as it ever could. "Oh, sweetie... Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well. You've been... Occupied. At first. And you didn't seem to like me. Your eyes were all daggers. I kinda panicked."
"Well, of course, I didn't like you. Have you seen yourself in the mirror?"
The Doctor flinches, and she looks like River slapped her. Her face is almost ashen, and it's as if her whole world crumbled under her feet at those words.
Oh.
"No. No, sweetie, no. Not like that, my love."
She's close enough to feel the tremors running through her tiny body. She looks so, so fragile right now, and River has trouble focusing on anything else. She's never seen her spouse look this stricken. She looks like she might break down completely at any moment. "Doctor. Look at me."
She doesn't, and River has to cup her face with her hand and force her to turn towards her. Those beautiful eyes fixed on her, unsure and so devastated it aches River. She smiles reassuringly and gently rubs the wetness off her cheeks with her thumbs.
River brings her closer, and she catches her mouth with hers, kissing her lovingly. Though evidently still uncertain and dealing with an emotional roller-coaster, the Doctor reacts instinctively and presses closer, her hands sliding into River's hair and on the small of her back.
"You're very pretty, don't worry," she whispers when she pulls back, the Doctor pouting slightly at the loss of contact. God, she's adorable this time around. "That's why I was a bit cold back there. I got a bit... Jealous, thinking my husband would find himself such a gorgeous young companion."
She feels the blonde relax a bit, but she frowns even deeper, anyway.
"Why would it even matter?"
"Well, what can I say. I'm getting older. You know it's complicated for us. I wouldn't blame you, you know."
"River... You can't be serious!"
"You do have a habit of picking up the young and pretty ones..."
"Yes, because the old ones struggle with my pace. Graham proves it every time we go for an adventure," she grumbles, but her eyes soften. "Why would I care if my companions are young and pretty? I do happen to be married. And my wife is amazing, thank you very much."
River chuckles, but when the Doctor sniffs, her face gets serious again.
"I'm sorry, my love."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. Me, however..."
"No, Doctor."
"How can you be so calm while believing that I... I mean, I know I haven't been exactly good to you. You deserve so much more. But how can you still think that I don't love you... You are the best thing in my whole life, and that's a lot to say if you're a Timelord and I... I... "
She's jabbering so quickly that she doesn't take a single breath in between, and River watches her with concern. Her wife is still shaking, and even though it's less violent than before, it still worries her. She looks... Desperate. Panicked. Broken...
"Come here, you."
River sighs, and she pulls the other woman into her arms. The Doctor offers no complaints, and it silences her efficiently. She buries her face into the crook of River's neck, and she can feel the tears still coming, vanishing into her dress and wetting the fabric of her clothes. She tightens her hold on her wife, kissing the top of the blond head.
"It's alright. I know now. I think deep down, I've always known. It's just that... I guess I'm scared of losing you. Terrified, to be honest."
"Never run away when you're scared."
"Oh, I know!" She laughs. The Doctor is curled into her, still quite shaky. She moved her head a bit lower, resting against River's chest, listening to the sound of her heartbeats. Her hands are gently running up and down River's back.
"You are never going to lose me. Not that way, anyway. You, Melody Pond. Professor River Song. You will always have me. And you will always have my hearts."
"Oh, you're a romantic this round. That's an interesting change."
"I've had years to realise that keeping quiet about my feelings for you has only ever tore us apart."
"How long has it been since you've last seen me, Doctor?"
"Dunno. Lost count."
"Doctor. Don't. I know when you're lying."
"A few thousands of years. If you count the time that I... Never mind. Spoilers. Possibly. Probably."
"Oh, sweetie..."
"I'm fine. It was terrible. But I... I got another bit of stolen time with you. That's brilliant. Every second with you is special. It's more than I could ever wish for."
She keeps babbling, and River watches her. It hurts her to think about the Doctor, hurting and alone.
"Was there someone with you?"
"Sometimes. Mostly. I've found a friend. You'll meet her. I've adopted a sorta granddaughter. I got my fam now..."
"But?"
"But it's not the same."
"I know, my love," River sighs, and she presses a kiss to her wife's forehead.